WE HAVE PUT HUMPTY DUMPTY TOGETHER AGAIN! The saga continues...
Whilst we can’t claim that this is the ‘world’s best kept secret’ at last we are able to publicly announce that Kate and I have completed the purchase or recapture of The Walls! As of 30th of January we once again became the bemused and dazed owners of the business. The previous owners, whom I had the pleasure of working with for almost three years, had decided to sell and we made an offer that they felt able to accept.
I may well have glibly told several hundred of you that ‘I couldn’t think of anything else to do’; and whilst there may well be a grain or two of truth in this typically flippant remark, the reality is that I am really enjoying being back here and Kate and I have not run out of ideas to develop and improve the business further. It has been an exciting roller coaster of a ride negotiating to once again take charge but it’s a relief that it is completed.
So how is all this peculiar shenanigans going to affect you, our loyal and most worthy customers? Firstly by guaranteeing that the improvements made under my stewardship of the last three years are to be maintained. Secondly, that we have a long term interest in the continued success of the business and are not about to cash it in and retire again (but any ridiculous offers will be considered seriously).
Most importantly we are committed to making an overall improvement in the quality of “The Walls Experience”. This remit includes all aspects i.e. foods, wines, service, surroundings, furniture etc. More major developments soon to be pushed into the pipeline include a sunroom/conservatory for the front courtyard – a new bar/drinking area, position to be decided.
EVENTS for 2006
FOOD:
We would dearly love to feed more of you at lunchtimes. With this aim sharply in focus we are launching a new menu featuring what we believe is missing from our array of menu offerings namely – some very high quality quick and healthy offerings that you busy lunch eating people should find ideal to keep you going through the afternoon.
We already know that we do an excellent job of our pasta dishes – you tell us we do! So we are going to extend the range of our offerings and serve a sensibly-sized lunch portion of such fare: somewhere between a starter and a main course. I am reliably informed by Kate that it definitely would not be in order to call them a stain course!! I’m sure she’s right...
Salads:
The Classic Caesar Salad – Hearts of Romaine lettuce, anchovies, croutons, parmesan shavings and Caesar dressing:
Classic £6.00
or with Chicken breast £8.50
Rocket, char-grilled vegeteables and steak salad £9.00
Seafood salad £10.50
Duck sweet chilli and rice noodle soup with giant prawn cracker £5.50
Smoked haddock, spinach and chive with cheddar £9.00
VALENTINES NIGHT
We are having two bites at the cherry, so to speak this year, maybe you will too! On the day itself, 14th of February and on Saturday the 18th we are offering one of our traditional tongue in check all in the best possible taste menus.
On the Tuesday you will be serenaded or at least tinkled at by the aforementioned Mr. Andrew Leake, and on Saturday a groovy disco plays all your favourite love tunes. Sorry, I must take this more seriously!
SOUND A BIT FISHY TO YOU?
Our fish merchant's a star! We’ve used him without interruption since our inception and he has an entirely unblemished record of providing us with fantastic fish and game.
So to maximise and make even better use of his wonderful wares we are launching the catchily-named “Thursday and Friday Night’s are FISH NIGHTS”.
So it’s a warm welcome to you all as we are to scale the culinary heights, put the plaice firmly back on the map by serving Brill food with bags of Soul, delivered by our pretty Gaggle of mermaids – net result: a fantastic catch!
EATS & BEATS
It’s the hardest thing to think of something new and exciting to say about a rolling event, so perhaps I’ll restrict myself to fact!
The next Eats & Beats is on 24th of March and we’re going all Oriental on you. Come to think of it there must have been a way to incorporate Eats & Beats into the Valentines menu somewhere. Usual drill, great video, music authentic food and laid back atmosphere.
Tickets are as usual a ridiculous £18.50. Go on, you know you want to come to this special fried night. Pets welcome (just let us know how you want them cooked)!!
JUDY GOUGH & JANIE McLEOD SEA-SCENES
Our next art exhibition features the work of two local artists; from the 22nd of February we feature a combined exhibition of the work of Judy Gough & Janie McLeod. The exhibition lasts until the end of March.
Judy Gough:
Judy's work is mainly landscapes but she also paints and draws from life models and occasionally ventures into 3D. She particularly loves to explore the incessant movement of tides, winds, creatures and their relationships with the huge volumes in cliffs, sand, water and air.
Judy explains she “tries to analyse what I see and feel, to discover how and where stillness and change meet- and then to find the right marks and colours and a way of putting them down that captures something of these feelings.”
Janie McLeod
Janies’ work seeks to create a sense of space. By working quickly using gesture and line, she creates abstract and narrative images in the form of graphite drawings, ink and acrylic on canvas, oil and dry pastels, etchings and collagraphs. The sea and the ”edge of the land” inspire a constant stream of work ~ even from landlocked Shropshire.
MIKE SANCHEZ:
Seldom has any performer blown away all and sundry in the same way as Mr. Mike Sanchez; he is a consummate professional. It has taken me almost two years to track him down and book him again to play the Walls. He is quite simply fantastic, a keyboard player extraordinaire, a showman of un-paralleled pedigree and someone who exudes charisma by the gallon.
Miss this one at your peril! Friday the 28th of April sees his long overdue return to The Walls. Spaces for this high-octane night are £47.50 to include 3 course dinner, the show and dancing (we defy you to be able to stay in your seats). To be certain of lasting and meaningful joy hurry and book. Menu details available by the end of February.
ALISON GOES STIR CLEAN
Following the fairly standard path of mild debauchery and dis-functionality that seems such a part of hard core catering professionals, all of a sudden for no apparently discernable reason, Alison, our ever so slightly zany front of house commandant announces that she is going to run the London Marathon! I suppose that by now I should be used to cataclysmic surprises, after all not only has my mother, Granny Ruth, successfully given up smoking but my shelf filling sister got married recently, so there was bound to be a third bombshell!
Anyway, I am full of awe & admiration that she is even contemplating such rank insanity. It may come as a complete surprise to all or none of you that when I was but a shadow of my current selfI completed two half marathons in some calendar breaking times and as a result, I cannot comprehend how it is possible to complete a full one!
So apart from this interesting news you will have worked out that this adventure is for charity, (Children with Leukaemia, registered charity) and that we’d be hugely pleased if you’d help in any number of ways. Firstly and possibly the most straightforward way is by sponsorship, forms are at the desk at The Walls and we are also able to take details over the phone.
Secondly, on the evening of Friday April 7th we are hosting, in conjunction with Vegas Leisure, a Casino Night, with a chance to play roulette, poker, blackjack/pontoon and dice on real tables with professional croupiers and win a variety of seriously valuable prizes whilst helping this great cause.
As is traditional on these occasions a musical diversion will be provided by our very own resident dilapidated pianist Mr. Andrew Leake, he is going to put on his best line dancing kit and play the “Old Joanna”,- she probably won’t mind. Tickets/reservations, for the evening are a ridiculously reasonable £25.00 to include a £5.00 donation, a drink on arrival and an excellent two course dinner and coffee.
ANDY LEAKE'S 10th SHOWCASE
This promises to be a really significant year for our much maligned pianist, the ever present (in the newsletter anyway), Mr. Andy Leake. Not only does he, somewhat remarkably, reach a milestone in his Technicolor life, (he is 40 very shortly), but it is also his 10th Walls showcase on the 21st of April.
Before any of you remarkably stalwart supporters recoil in horror at the prospect of sitting through another reheat of the last two, I have extracted a cast-iron, bolted-on guarantee that this show is 100% new material and whilst you might recognise some or all of the artists you will not have heard their offerings in a previous showcase.
It is only fair that we do the same and so the menu for the evening will be a little radical and all the better for it!
Andy is more fired up for this one than I’ve seen him before, - not a pretty sight. There I go again dissing the pianist, - a little reminder to have ago at the aforementioned competition. The winning term will be mentioned on the showcase menu and is likely to become a valuable part of Walls litanies.
There will be at least one more newsletter before the event but as has been the case for all the previous showcases demand for seats is assured so if you want to make certain of a prime space, its worth booking early.
MAILING LIST
This exercise is long overdue and we are certain to upset, annoy or cause offence to hopefully a very small number of you, but we desperately need to spring clean our mailing list.
The list is almost 13 years old and inevitably whilst we have tried hard to keep up with all those earth shattering life events that cause people to move, change their names or simply no longer want any more of my weird scribblings, we no longer have an accurate list. The only solution we could come up with is to ask you all to positively opt into the new list. Go HERE to subscribe or not.
We will continue to post the WSJ on our website every time we write one and you can safely print yourself a copy or you may decide to go retro and ask for an old fashioned posted version again.
We have not recovered from the richly deserved abuse we received having sent out many hundreds of copies of the newsletter to each and every electronic recipient in a football pitched sized format. Despite apparently being entirely innocent in this regard, (a technological blip was to blame), we simply don’t want to risk it.
We promise to write more often to those of you kind enough to want to continue with the WSJ!
